Articles

Cindy Bujalski found an unexpected benefit to working part-time in the Avalon tax office.

“I started hearing all these stories, the history of Avalon, things I didn’t know about the borough,” she said.

She found the tales of streetcars and stores long gone from Avalon’s landscape to be fascinating and wanted to learn more, but it seemed the history of the borough was more anecdotal than anything else, stories passed down from parents and grandparents but never recorded for future generations.

Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) has begun to enroll young children and pregnant mothers in its new Early Head Start program for low-income families.

Early Head Start is a free childhood development program for infants, toddlers, pregnant women and their families. Staff work with families to promote a child's health/development and assist pregnant women in accessing prenatal and postpartum care.

Families from Bellevue, Avalon, West View and Ross Township can participate.

Buying and selling a home are two of the most important decisions many people will make. When it comes time to make that decision, you want the help of a realtor who knows the business, knows the market, knows the neighborhood.

That's where Arrow Real Estate comes in.

The office at 201 Center Ave. in Emsworth may be new, but the people inside are anything but new to the real estate business, or to the community.

It's part of students' end-of-year rituals. Sort of the ultimate "No more pencils, no more books…" chant that dates back decades as a year's worth of notebooks, folders, pens and pencils often get a quick pitch into one of the many trash containers stationed throughout school hallways.

Named for the legendary Pittsburgh performer, Gene Kelly, the Kelly Awards brings a taste of Broadway’s Tony Awards to the city as they celebrate the best performances and achievements in high school musical productions for the current school year.

Last Saturday’s 20th annual ceremony highlighted the talents of hundreds of actors, actresses and production workers as “the best of the best” gathered at the Benedum Theater to offer samples of individual and full-cast production numbers.

"Great Saves" don't happen only on the baseball diamond. They happen every day throughout the Pittsburgh region as EMS professionals and other first response teams save lives by delivering prompt, expert care.

West Penn Allegheny Health System and the Pittsburgh Pirates are teaming up this baseball season to salute local first responders at Pirates games and reunite them with the patients they helped save.

Marie Elder of Bellevue belongs to a strongly patriotic organization that has a clock ticking against its existence.

That's because all of its members are over the age of 80, and recruitment of new ones simply isn't a possibility.

But that dire prospect does not diminish the personal connection with history that Marie feels when she slips into her Rosie the Riveter tee-shirt and begins to reminisce about the era that produced what many believe to be the greatest generation in American history.

When Andy Lang began thinking about joining the service, he couldn't decide among the Air Force, the Army or the Navy. Family lineage solved the problem for him.

After all, his grandfather Chuck Lang served in the Navy with a construction battalion in World War II, detonating coral on Tinian, a South Pacific island where airstrips were built. Airstrips from which planes flew bombing missions that dropped the atom bombs on Japan.

And his father, Chuck, stationed on a communications relay ship in the Tonkin Gulf, served as a machinist in the Navy during Vietnam.

Broadway arrives in the North Boroughs this week, with the staging of two standards of American musical theater at local high schools.

Northgate students will take audiences back to the era of Elvis and the earliest days of rock 'n roll with its production of "Bye Bye Birdie," while Avonworth students will drop back a few years more, to the Roaring ‘20s, with its presentation of "Mame."

Avonworth sophomore Holly Hunt turned in books and wrapped up the school year a bit earlier than her classmates, traveling last Friday to Niigata, Japan where she will spend 11 months as an exchange student in the American Field Service program.

"My mom was an AFS student when she was in high school, spending time in Colombia, so she helped me with the application process," Holly said.

During her 11-month stay, Holly will live with a host family and attend school, which, she said, differs from American scheduling.

Emsworth resident Richard "R. J." Hufnagel admits that having his head shaved for charity does not entail that much of a sacrifice.

"Really, there isn't that much there," he said, running a hand through some of the thicker areas remaining on sides and back, all of it scheduled for removal this Saturday, March 13, as part of a fund-raiser for childhood cancer research.

"A friend's daughter died of cancer a few years ago and she got people together to do this. That's how I got involved."

The Pennsylvania Middle School Association has honored Avonworth Middle School principal Tom Ralston with the Administrator's Award, an honor that recognizes his achievements in promoting middle school education and encouraging professional development.

Now in his fifth year as an Avonworth principal, Ralston has earned high marks from his students, as well as from PMSA, with three eighth graders expressing their views.

"Mr. Ralston is the most amazing and understanding principal in the state," said Natalie Malloy.

North Hills Community Outreach (NHCO) and Community Auto have formally merged in order to operate more efficiently.

NHCO is a 23-year-old interfaith organization addressing the needs of people in crisis, hardship and poverty. Programs include two food pantries, utility assistance, emergency financial help and volunteer care-giving for older adults.

Community Auto was founded in 2003 as a volunteer-run program to accept donated vehicles, have them repaired and sell them at reasonable prices to low-income people.

For the second consecutive year, North Hills Community Outreach is partnering with Christ Lutheran Church in Millvale to provide minor home repairs to qualified seniors and adults with physical disabilities.

Applications are now being accepted for repair projects that will be completed by supervised groups of youth between June 28 and July 2.

Senior citizens or adults with physical disabilities who wish to be considered for home repairs should:

Own and reside in a home in northern Allegheny County, outside of the city limits.

In an effort to promote cultural diversity and a global perspective within the community, Avonworth High School will hold its second annual multicultural dinner festival on Feb. 6, starting at 6 p.m. in the school cafeteria.

The opening attraction of the evening -- food -- will feature cuisine prepared by parents, teachers and students, as well as by restaurants.

Avonworth and Northgate students joined millions of Americans in holding fund-raisers for Haitian earthquake relief, with some activities beginning last week and others extending throughout the rest of the month.

A local Navy veteran has been honored in Navy Recruiting District Pittsburgh.

Petty Officer First Class Matthew Koll, a graduate of Northgate High School, won Recruiter in Charge [RINC] of the Year honors at Navy Recruiting District Pittsburgh's annual awards banquet in Niagara Falls.

Christmas dinner came to Bellevue a little early for Kim Roney and her sons.

And Santa came almost two weeks ahead of schedule, with presents exchanged on Dec. 13.

But the family was not rushing the season. They were just fitting everything in before Josh, 24, and Mark, 22 had to report back to their ships, Josh to the USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan, and Mark to the USS Enterprise in Norfolk, VA.

The family last spent time together in August, 2008, just before Josh deployed to Japan.